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State Ordered to Pay Friends of Animals' Fees

January 24, 2007 | Wolves / Alaska Boycott

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

By Tim Mowry

The state must pay $95,000 in attorney fees to Friends of Animals for a lawsuit the Connecticut-based animal-rights group won last year that temporarily halted Alaska's controversial predator control program, according to a decision by an Anchorage Superior Court judge last week.

Superior Court judge Sharon Gleason ruled Friday that the state is responsible for attorney fees incurred by Friends of Animals for a lawsuit the group filed in November 2003 that was decided last January.

The decision was confirmed by state officials and representatives for Friends of Animals.

"It's very good news," said FOA executive director Priscilla Feral by phone from Connecticut.

Comments

Submitted by Rita Campbell on Thu, 2007-01-25 12:48

I am happy to hear of this ruling. Friends of Animals worked tirelessly, and thanklessly, on behalf of Alaska wolf packs. Althought the lawsuit brought a brief respite for the wolves, the predator program, it seems, continues. Ex-governor Frank Murkowski found ways around the law by shifting from aerial hunting to pursuing wolves on ATV's, and he expanded the range of areas to be hunted. Alaskans have voted, repeatedly, against aerial wolf hunting. Because he ignored the wishes of Alaskans in may ways, so he was defeated by a large margin in the last election.
However, our new governor Sarah Palin stated during the election campaign that she would support "predator control" and the needs of the rural Native community. I would not want to take anything away from our Native community, but I do not believe this is a case of the needs of the Native communities. I believe that is a small part of the issue, and is used as an excuse for a bad program to decimate wolves.
I believe the ones who benefit most are the out of state recreational hunters. They are the ones most in competition with wolves for trophy animals. I care alot about the wolves, as do many Alaskans, and I have written to Governor Palin in this regard. Thank you Friends of Animals for your efforts to lessen the needless slaughter ...

money is what you are all about.the greed of the animal rights industry is incredible. i challenge you to release the figures on how much your industry takes in for the animals and where it is spent . include wages ,benifits and all other perks such as travel, food ,clothing,
and all other spending done by the administrators of your industry . i'm sure that it's a small amount because your leadership lives in such a poor ghetto community as darrien conn.
[Blog editors' note: Is the State of Alaska sending you the bill for $95,000? Impressive.]

congratulations, the money couldn't have been awarded to a better group and in this case the right group. intellegence will always supercede foolish decisions, keep up the good work.hit them in the wallet, their brains will usually kick in to gear.
[Blog editors' comment: Much appreciated, Dave.]

The wolves arent being shot because hunters dont like to compete, it is because the wolves are not subsistence hunted, but their prey is, so the wolves have no predators and are overpopulating the state and need to be thinned out. I love animals too, but I also love how many of them taste, and when I hunt I hunt to eat. All of you not in Alaska cant possibly understand the situation.
[Blog editors' note: Get a grip, Murph.]

Wolf hunting as predatorcontrol has long been a controversial issue. We have for many years practiced what we like to call wild life management. This is really an oxymoron as wldlife will ultimately manage itself if left alone. However , uncontrolled , we observe extreme highs and lows with large fluctuation in numbers between predator and prey . We, as residents have concluded we need a steady balanced presence with between species .
The population of rural Alaska depend on a healthy presence of moose as moose often represent the main source of protein. Cows are scarce in the bush and the supermarkets are out of reach for many. A healthy moose population is further important for many local economies. A large number of outfitters and guides make a living from guiding and transporting moose hunters in the field. This economy is important and would suffer with decline of moose .Wolf also reproduce in a much faster pace than moose.
There are in truth also other factors to the decline in moose population such as feeding and roaming grounds being developed for housing and business purposes. Hundreds of moose are also killed on roadsystems and the railway. The amount of hunters have not increased significantly and nationwide the number is actually on a decline. Mankind has a need to control the environment and put everything around them in system, wildlife being a part of this need. As we started to interfere with the balance of nature , we have to follow up and continue in doing so. I support predatorcontrol including aerial hunting and do not think this or any other organization should interfere with due process. I regret the outcome of this case but I salute the fact that Alaskans and only Alaskans have a good understanding of what is really going on in our state.
[Blog editors' note: Your argument is missing a key point: People from outside of your state and inside of your state have registered a high level of disagreement with that position. This case is all about due process, and about interfering so that due process is respected.]

Alright! Glad to hear that. I am an Alaskan and I love my state but I hate the attitude here re. animals, wildlife, hunting, trapping, etc. I don't know what to expect from our new gov. She is definitely much of an improvement over the previous bozo and I think she will listen. But she does come from a pro-hunter background.